aussiechick

Yes. Back then I only cocked it once when I packed, and I must have been distracted and missed it.

It really only adds another 20 secs to your pack job. I cock mine twice. Once before it goes in the bag and once after. I've found that it does move slightly during packing, maybe not enough to cause a PCIT but having had one of those before, don't want one again. If my routine is always to do it twice, plus a pin check, it won't happen again.

Good for you, don't let anyone make you feel bad for choosing an off DZ landing, rather than pushing a bad approach. Better a long walk than a short ambulance ride.

Shah, I think you are missing the point that some people are trying to make. There is nothing wrong with being attracted to size 8 women. Everyone has something that they are attracted too, and something that they find unattractive. I love skinny men with glasses, but would draw the line at a guy that wasn't intelligent. My husband loves women with big tits, but would never have dated someone that smoked. But thankfully we have built our marriage on a bit more than that. I dated guys that were way better looking and earned more money than him, but he makes me happy, and after 10 years, we still laugh at each others stupid jokes and miss each other when we are apart. For the record, when we met I was a size 8, ballooned up for a few years when I had back to back pregnancies, and then went back to an 8. At no point during this time did he make me feel anything but sexy. I kind of feel sorry for you. I hope you can sort out your problems and find what you're looking for.

Judging by your post, I suspect that any attractive, intelligent woman, who isn't crazy would steer well clear of you. Not because you are pudgy and have bad hygiene, but because you are shallow, and seem like a bit of a dick.

Shah, you really don't seem to know much about what 20 yr old women want. The more I read your posts, the more I'm understanding why you are still single

Only in my fantasies

Nah. I started banging my instructor after my first jump a loooong time ago when I was 21, and he was 35. Hot is hot, at any age.

In oz seatbelts are required to be worn to 1000ft, though not always enforced.

I'm glad pro packing works for you. As I said FOR ME I found that it was nearly impossible to s-fold new ZP, whereas rolling is easy. And no matter how careful I was with the slider, soft openings still weren't consistent.

So than what "makes" it open better than PRO-pack? Positive thinking or placebo effect. If you pychopack than you can feel like unique or at least cool. Things tend to work better if you believe in them. Canopies tend to be work better if you are more relaxed. I know i am probably pretty crap at pro packing, but after pro packing for hundreds of jumps, and getting consistently hard and off heading openings someone showed me how to psychopack. There is definatley a difference. You have far more control with nose placement which at least for me has made a massive difference in everyway. It is very rare that I have a snappy, or off heading opening. Especially with brand new ZP, for me, there is no comparison between rolling and s-folding. Definatley no placebo effect here.

+1 to what DSE said! About 10 years ago, there were a few skydivers on my DZ, that turned racking up jump numbers into a competition. I used to get hasseled because there was no way I could afford to keep up with them. 10 years later, it seems that out of this group, I am the only one still in love with the sport and still jumping. If all you ever do in life is skydive, it's hard for most people to maintain a passion for it. Don't worry about anyone else. Live your life your way.

I've done some visually awesome jumps, but this one last week might be the winner.

yes, people like whales more than they like sharks. I don't think finning is looked upon too kindly either.

No matter how you feel about the Sea Shepards methods, nobody else seems to be doing anything about it. Whales are endangered, and whaling has been banned for a reason. This shouldn't be about which meat different cultures prefer to eat. These aren't plentiful farmed animals. If whaling continues unchecked, it's only a matter of time before the argument will be moot anyway. Thankfully, it seems that younger Japanese people are turning away from eating whale meat , so in turn the market may die out. Hopefully before the whales do.

I think the OP's point is not so much that we should all spend our time worrying about dying, but more about been respectful that this sport can kill you if you are careless and feel invincible. Until you've actually been in the situation where one minute you are are laughing and joking with a close friend, and 1 hour later they are taking him away in a body bag because of a careless error, you can't truly understand what we are talking about.

Rubbish they don't.

I miss flatpacking! Haven't done it since I owned a PD- 170. It's just easier to pro pack a ZP canopy, and it doesn't take up much real estate.

I am so sorry for your loss. Try not to take to heart the attitude you are getting here. I am a skydiver and a mom. Even though I've been jumping for 15 years, if something happend to me, i'm sure my mom would be wanting answers. I don't know the specifics of your daughters accident. I wasn't there. We all leave our main parachute packing in the hands of capable professionals at some time or another. And as for our reserves, they must be packed by someone qualified to do so. These accidents always have more than one factor that results in a tragedy. Jumping is never without risk. I know this doesn't make things easier for you, but you can be proud that your daughter was a special person that wasn't afraid to live her life.

Oohhh, I knew it was coming but seeing it has reminded me that we'll never see Eli again. Seeing him talk about proximity flying and pushing the envelope...

I've spent the last 15 years tenting it at boogies. I've got all the kit and I usually lug it all with me. But I'm getting too old and cranky for that shit and would like a bit of comfort these days! I'm pretty happy with the Cruise America quote for the Compact RV. Thanks everyone!

Thanks, waiting for Cruise America to get back to me. What I'm looking for is classified as a class B. Most of the websites have them which is so frustrating, I just can't seem to book one. There are 100's of companies in Australia that do them. They can come with kitchens, bathrooms, TV's the whole lot, they just do it as compactly as possible. We basically only need it to park at Skydive Chicago for Summerfest. We'll hardly ever be in it!

I need to rent an RV in the Chicago area. I want something small, and I'm having trouble getting companies to listen to what I'm asking for. I'm tired of sending emails requesting a quote for something that accomodates 2 people ( which they seem to have on their websites) only to recieve a quote for something that sleeps 7! Can anyone recommend a company in the area that I can deal with?

I've taken my rig through customs countless times over the years, and have learnt that by far the most effective way of getting through quickly, and with as little hassle as possible is to be polite. At the end of the day, they have all the power, and sometimes they are looking for an excuse to be assholes. Don't give them one, and usually it's easy. If it means that you need your gear to be fully checked afterwards, so be it. It's part of travel. A friend of mine had to learn the hard way. A customs officer insisted he open the reserve (which of course he refused, but perhaps not as nicely as he could have) in the end he was given no choice, so he punched out the reserve directly into the custom officer's face and gave him a bloody nose! This of course was followed up by an interrogation, which involved a full cavity search!